Gossip Girl and Black Eyed Children
by FanfictionReader2015AD
Summary: Serena Celia Humphrey with Blair Cornelia and Vanessa Abrams and Jennifer Tallulah Humphrey and Ivy Dickens and Charlotte Rhodes and Georgina Sparks watching It Movie (1990) and Horror Movies also screaming and eating Ice Cream.
1. Prologue

"Let's shut this shit-show down and head out!" Serena exclaimed as she shut the door on the group of trick-or-treaters. "Enough scary movies and hungry kids. Bring on the drinks."

"Agree," said Blair, placing her empty bowl on the end table next to the couch. "It's eight now and you have done your duty. Does your Mom being a dentist have anything to do with how many tons of candy we have passed out? She must be drumming up lots of business this way."

"She's the clever one in the family," laughed Serena. "More rotten teeth mean more new cars and trips to the tropics."

The doorbell rang again, chiming loudly to the tune of "Who Let the Dogs Out?"

"Turn the lights out now!" yelled Vanessa. "No more of these hungry little monsters tonight."

Vanessa used the remote to turn the T.V. volume up and made herself comfortable on the sectional couch along with Jennifer, Charlotte, and Georgina. They were scaring themselves silly with one horror movie after another. "It" was showing now and really changing their laughter into screams as the atmosphere got spookier and spookier as the night got dark. Huge bowls of ice cream had been consumed by everyone except Charlotte who was determined to remain keto. She eyed the rich-looking mint chocolate chip and strawberry ice cream longingly as she chewed on a piece of string cheese.

Serena, looking very scary indeed with her five feet ten inch frame stuffed into a raggedy Ann costume made for a more average height 20-year-old woman, came back into the family room from the kitchen and made her way to the door. As she opened it, she made her best happy face and prepared to greet the little goblins that dared to ring the doorbell with a smile befitting Ann. That all stopped as soon as she looked down at the two little faces peering atop pumpkin costumes. Little faces staring back at her with jet-black eyes. Black eyes.

"What in the…" Serena composed herself quickly after being frozen in place for a couple of seconds. "Aren't you going to say "trick or treat?"

The black eyes in the little faces did not blink. The little mouths in the little faces did not open. The little arms clutching worn-out chicken feed sacks did not extend out waiting for candy.

"Well…here's some treats anyway," Serena said, holding the big orange bowl filled with snack-sized candy bars out toward the urchins. The children did not move. The little black eyes kept staring at her.

Blair and Vanessa peered around Serena to see what was happening out there. They fell into each other stepping backward after what they saw.

"Those look like those spooky kids I've seen about on T.V.," Vanessa whispered to Blair as they untangled themselves and stood up. "They have eyes blacker than coal and deeper than black holes. They don't look normal."

"Isn't that just an urban legend?" asked Serena without taking her eyes off the children. "Some kind of spooky folklore story?"

"If it is, the urban legends are standing here staring at you," Vanessa said, peering around Serena's shoulder again. "They don't look very scary."

The boy and girl seemed to be frozen in place as they stood on the front porch. They were about the same height and appeared to be seven or eight years old. Both had hair a shade or two lighter than their eyes and were wearing bright orange pumpkin costumes with green felt hats for stems and matching green leggings. Their expressions were very neutral, not smiling but not frowning either. Serena did not remember ever seeing them around the neighborhood.

"Maybe that is part of their costume. Are those eyes real?" Blair stepped in front of the other two to take a closer look at the trick-or-treaters. She stepped onto the porch to get closer to the children. But not too close. The eyes looked real to her but did appear unnatural. Unblinking and very large.

Those strange eyes in the motionless children were very unsettling, Blair backed up slowly off the porch, shut the door carefully, and stood next to Vanessa and Serena. Maybe all the horror movies were making them creeped out, though Blair as she jumped a little from sudden screams coming from the family room as Georgina, Jennifer and Charlotte continued to watch "It." All this horror has got to affect the mind, Blair, a junior psychology major, thought to herself. There may even be epigenetic effects on my children and grandchildren, she mused. Maybe they will be born with dark black eyes…

Serena and Vanessa soon joined the others. The three friends who had not seen those eyes were happily watching the movie, screams followed by fits of giggling. All six friends knew each other from school, and everyone except for Blair had been in high school together. Now all were going to the state college located about twenty minutes away. Blair and Serena both still lived at home with their families while Vanessa, Charlotte, Jennifer and Georgina shared a townhouse next to the college. Serena's house was the perfect place for a Halloween get-together since her parents and 12-year old twin brothers were away on yet another Caribbean cruise. It was a rather modest yet large home that was starting to show its age which made it very comfortable for the group who did not have to worry about being a little careless with food. No coasters required on this furniture. Serena's parents enjoyed the fruits of their labor but weren't into a showy home as they preferred to spend time traveling.

The family room doubled as a movie theater with an 80 inch television attached to the South wall and a humungous sectional sofa the centerpieces of this large room with knotty pine walls and a tile floor with flecks of gold that seemed to move as you walked, reflecting the light in a marvelous way. Floor-to-ceiling windows lined the side of the room that faced the wooded back yard with its amazing variety of trees and shrubs making an urban oasis for wildlife. This was Serena's favorite room, a place where she felt part of things and enveloped by home and family even when the others were away.

Serena, Blair and Vanessa all felt very jittery after the experience at the front door and could not relax as they sat with the others. Their silence was soon picked up by the empathy antennae of Charlotte.

"Hey, you guys," Charlotte paused the movie as she turned to Serena, Blair and Vanessa who were on the left side of the sectional. "You look like the walking dead only you're sitting. What took you so long with the trick-or-treating?"

Serena hesitates for a second and then looked at Charlotte before replying, "The trick-or-treaters were a little scary."

"Kids in vampire costumes out for blood?" joked Charlotte. "Hey Jen and Georgina, we didn't need to stream all these movies to get our yearly scare – it showed up on its own at the front door."

"This is real," Blair said. "Some of those kids with black eyes were out there."

"You mean the urban myth black-eyed kids? Trick-or-treating here? Are you just trying to scare us?" Jennifer asked.

"Did you get pictures?" Georgina enthusiastically turned to Serena. "We can make a lot of dough if you did. Video would be even better! Are they still out there?

Serena looked at Blair and Vanessa. "We all saw them. Coal-black eyes with no emotion. Big, scary eyes. We are not making this up."

Georgina sat up straight at the edge of the sectional. "I saw something online about a sighting of black-eyed children in Abilene, Texas last year. But weren't those just rumors? People making up scary stories around Halloween?"

"These kids did not look normal. They did not move much and did not speak. They didn't reach out for the candy when we offered it but just stood there staring," Serena wrapped herself in the plush throw next to her and shuddered.

"We shut the door on them. They could still be out there." Blair looked at Georgina. "Care to go find out?"

Georgina jumped to her feet and grabbed Jennifer's arm, pulling her out of her lounge position. "Come on. We're not afraid!"

"Speak for yourself," Jennifer exclaimed. "I don't want to become tomorrow's headline."


	2. Chapter 1

Georgina, who was studying journalism, continued to pull on to Jennifer's arm. "I want to write tomorrow's headline, "Black-Eyed Children: College students expose urban myth for the fake news it is."

Jennifer reluctantly allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. She gave Georgina a little push toward the door leading to the front hallway. "You go first and get your scoop."

Georgina confidently headed out the family room door and into the hall, with Jennifer slowly trailing behind. Vanessa and Blair arose and went to the door, standing beside it without venturing through. Serena remained wrapped in her blankie on the sectional.

"Be sure to get lots of pictures for me!" Serena said. "I can't wait to let the family see what they are missing this Halloween."

Georgina reached into her pocket for her cell phone. When she tried to turn it on, she saw that it was almost out of charge.

"Do you have your phone charged, Jennifer?" Georgina asked. "I may have enough juice for one photo, but I wouldn't count on it."

Jennifer went back to the sectional to look for her phone. She lifted a few pillows to look underneath and then started checking between the cushions. "Here it is." Jennifer looked at the screen. "92%, We can get lots of photos and even videos. Let's get this show on the road!"

Jennifer and Georgina headed to the front door with the other three adventurous souls timidly following as Serena chuckled from her cocoon. Never a dull moment, thought Serena. I really am lucky to have such good friends.

Georgina peered out the little window on the front door. It was very dark out now since the porch light was turned off to keep any more trick-or-treaters away. She could see lights still on at some of the neighbor's homes and a few packs of kids making their way down the street. Most were probably headed home, she thought. It is almost nine and trick-or-treating hours officially ended at eight. Not that rules matter much on Halloween.

Jennifer joined Georgina at the door and took her turn peering out the window. She saw an empty porch lit up only by the very large almost-full moon to the south. It really was a beautiful night with the moon so big and almost orange. The sky was very dark and cloudless except for a few feathery bits of white just above the moon. It was a balmy 70 degrees, warm for a Nashville Halloween. Usually this part of Kentucky experienced cold and rainy Halloweens, putting a damper on all the fun.

"The black-eyed children must be in their jammies now, ready for bed. Probably snuggled up with their teddy bears smelling like toothpaste and their bellies full of the loot they got tonight. Too full to feast on us!" Jennifer said to the others. "Now our fun can begin."

Georgina sighed. "Now I need to some up with another story for my assignment due tomorrow. Regular kids trick-or-treating won't be enough for a good grade."

The five co-eds headed back into the family room, ready for jammies themselves. Staying up late to go out and party on a school night was not a high priority anymore for them now that they were juniors in college and starting to really think about their futures. All this excitement seemed to make them feel tired rather than stimulated.

Only the thought of the guys they might meet at one of the Halloween gatherings they were thinking about going to kept them from calling it a night just yet. Only Blair had a steady boyfriend, her high school sweetheart Josh. He was away in New York City on a Wall Street internship for the semester. With him away, Blair was finding it enjoyable re-connecting with these friends. Having a relationship could be very isolating socially, she thought.

"Anyone still up for going out?" Blair asked the group as they settled in with the horror movie still on. "It is till early if you're not eight years old."

Serena stifled a yawn. "I feel like staying put now. Sorry guys if I'm a party pooper."

The others caught the yawn and nodded in agreement with Serena. None of them hfelt like putting in the effort it would take to get up, much less get dressed for going out. Jammies and left-over candy sounded really good. How great it was to be with friends and be so comfortable.

"Every party needs a pooper and that's why we invited you," chanted Vanessa. "Party pooper, party pooper."

The others laughed and agreed that staying put sounded just fine. There was always tomorrow for parties and always plenty of guys out there. Every day did not need to be filled with big adventure. Serena arose to gather up the ice cream bowls and carried them to the kitchen sink, where she placed them atop several days-worth of dirty plates and silverware. As she turned to go back to the family room, she was startled by the sight of something moving outside of the kitchen window. She peered out the window into the moon-lit yard. Something was in the shrubs that surrounded the house, she realized as she saw the branches moving and heard rustling. Black-eyed children on the loose, she laughed to herself. She kept watching and was amused to see a very large racoon emerge from the bush and amble across the yard. I hope it finds lots of dropped candy tonight, Serena thought. She has always had a soft spot for the nocturnal bandits, creatures after her own heart. Serena loved nights and was definitely not a morning person. Nights seemed peaceful, a time when the world slowed a little to recover from crazy busy days.

Serena found a spot next to Blair and settled in with the others. The movie was almost over and didn't seem very scary anymore after those scary eyes on the porch. I wonder where those kids live, Serena pondered. They don't look familiar to me and I didn't see a parent waiting for them at the end of the sidewalk when they were up on the porch. And no car had been idling in the street, waiting to transport the urchins slowly down the street as they gathered pounds and pounds of candy. They can't have come from too far away. Maybe they live right next door, she thought, in a whole family of black-eyed people with a unique genetic trait that may look a little spooky but can easily be explained. There are lots and lots of ways many legends get started, she mused, but most of the time there is a very rooted reason behind them. She remembered hearing that the legend of vampires may have arisen from people with a severe form of anemia craving blood for its rich iron content. I should have Serena text them and ask them to look at eye color down there in the Caribbean, Jennifer made a mental note to herself, thinking how interesting it would be to really delve into a legend like this for a story.

Jennifer's reporter spirit gave her a second wind as the others relaxed on the sectional, half asleep. She went into the bedroom where she had put her stuff earlier and took out her laptop from her overnight bag. After sitting back down near the others, she started searching for more information about the legend of the black-eyed children. Maybe I can do my story for class on this anyway, she thought. Even without pictures. A story about urban legends like this and how they get started. She quickly found lots of web sites with information about the scary kids. Some full of information from believers and even more sites where skeptics refuted the information posted by the believers. How can people believe this stuff, she thought? I guess you believe what you want to most of the time without considering how reliable the evidence it, she thought. Even if you know better.

Deciding to go with this for her assignment was not a hard choice since it was due tomorrow and Jennifer knew she only has enough energy to get this done if she started now. Procrastination was a bad habit of hers, one she justified by how the adrenalin flow that started when she realized how little time she had left stimulated her brain cells enough to produce some really creative work. She opened a text document and started to type as the others began snoozing despite the terror coming from the final minutes of "It." Over the years they had been getting together like this, they had watched almost every horror movie ever made, Jennifer realized. From the old Godzilla and Frankenstein flicks with their now amusing very primitive special effects to the latest movies that combined gore with psychological terror, they had pretty much seen them all, she thought. Until her research revealed an indie film that had been made about the back-eyed children. I wish I could find that somewhere to watch, she thought. My movie tastes have been biased by the blockbusters that show here in the theaters and whatever makes it to television. I need to expand my horizons, Jennifer thought to herself. Maybe I can order this movie on Amazon since it doesn't seem to be available on Netflix or Hulu.

Jennifer found that the legend of these very dark-eyed kids may have started with a Texas reporter's stories on a list serve of ghost followers. Wow, she thought, a whole world of believer writings that I did not know existed. She learned a new term in her investigation that night, "creepypasta." Not very appetizing, she thought. Why put pasta in the name for legends like this? Now spaghetti will never taste the same. It was interesting to read how this legend, seemingly started by one reporter, had spread, from the initial ghost postings to a relatively small audience to mentions on some news shows and then the indie movie that was funded by Kickstarter. Jennifer realized that without the internet these legends could not spread as quickly but that there had probably been dissemination of stories of various myths since the beginnings of human history. Her reading showed the black-eyed children myths had even spread out of the United States into other countries, despite a real lack of any verification that these kids with the blackest eyes had ever been seen.

Jennifer's eyes started to close as her logical mind was making it clear that this was just a legend. She realized that her friends, like her, had seen so many horror films that they were probably primed to see scary things in places they weren't. That combined with it being Halloween and dark with a big moon had probably fueled that fire into a frenzy. Jennifer laughed to herself at the thought of a couple of innocent kids with normal eyes out looking only for treats unknowingly becoming the fodder of such legends. Crazy how our minds can fool us, she thought as the others were now snoozing around her. She decided to make her story about how the atmospheres people put themselves in can lead to the propagation of such legends. It is like "self-brainwashing" she wrote. Maybe I have coined a new term, Jennifer thought excitedly. She really was excited about this story now and wrote at a fast, adrenalin-fueled pace. Adrenalin made possible by the molecules in ice cream, she giggled.

Jennifer kept researching and writing for another hour, finally finishing her paper around 11 pm. She saved it and closed her laptop, very happy with her work and thinking to herself that she would proof-read it in the morning before turning it in. It was often hard to get a good story idea, but this one had landed right on her lap tonight. She got up and turned the lights off before grabbing some blankets from a linen closet off the hall. She spread them out atop her friends and then settled in on the huge sectional herself with her feet atop someone and her pillow wedges against someone else. It was a productive night after all, she thought. Fun and productivity, both on Halloween. She was a little sad that Halloween was over since it was really her favorite holiday, not nearly as stressful as Christmas and full of very happy childhood memories of costumes and candy. Kind of like Christmas, she thought, in some ways. With the trick-or-treaters nestled in their beds dreaming of gumdrops. I hope my friends are dreaming of gumdrops and not black-eyed children, she thought.

Just then, the doorbell rang…


End file.
